Anonymous infiltrates Department of Justice server

Trent Nouveau, 22nd May 2012

Hackers linked to the Anonymous collective have breached the digital perimeter protecting the Department of Justice (DoJ) network.

"Today we are releasing 1.7GB of data that used to belong to the United States Bureau of Justice, until now. Within the booty you may find lots of shiny things such as internal emails, and the entire database dump," the group wrote in a communiqué posted on The Pirate Bay.

"We do not stand for any government or parties, we stand for freedom of people, freedom of speech and freedom of information. We are releasing data to spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government. We are releasing it to end the corruption that exists, and truly make those who are being oppressed free."

The US Department of Justice confirmed the breach, telling Reuters that "one or more unauthorized users gained access to the inner workings of a website run by the DoJ."

According to a DoJ spokesperson, the hackers managed to access a server that operates the the Bureau of Justice Statistics' website. The bureau is tasked with collecting and analyzing data about crime, including cyber security, throughout the United States.

"The department is looking into the unauthorized access of a website server operated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that contained data from their public website," said a DoJ spokesperson.

"The Bureau of Justice Statistics website has remained operational throughout this time. The department's main website, justice.gov, was not affected."